Friday, 12/27/19 Update
Cascade Express opened for uphill transportation at 12:37 PM Friday afternoon. Winds and trail prep prevented an earlier opening, but once the winds calmed a little our guests were treated to some great runs on Boulevard and Gulch.
Now to the story posted Thursday about a potential opening today.
It’s been a weird start to the season this year - our upper mountain has taken a definite pummeling, starting with the Thanksgiving storm when strong east winds scoured the mountain and literally blew off the light snow from the upper Cascade runs. In other words, we have yet to build a deep base under Cascade, especially on the northeast side of the lift line.
Add to that, storms driven by 100 mile winds have not helped in our efforts to open the lift, preventing us from prep running time, which we were able to accomplish today.
So - Cascade Express could run on Friday, although the status is unlikely due to forecast winds tomorrow. If winds allow, the lift will serve limited terrain in the area of Boulevard and Gulch. That’s where we’ve concentrated our grooming and snow hauling efforts as terrain on the northeast side of the lift line is still too scoured with gardens of rocks exposed. That will need to wait until we get more snow.
Keep in mind, the opening of the Boulevard and Gulch terrain is due entirely to the enormous amount of snow hauling that we've done over the past several days. There's still a ton of grooming work, marking and rope setting to do before the lift can open.
Expect limited terrain and we highly advise sticking to the groom - as you just don’t know what hazards and unmarked obstacles are lurking beneath the untouched. But making turns from the 7300 foot level on the side of volcano on groomed runs is a great recipe for enrichment! We can’t wait to get Cascade running this season!